The current state of the art for manipulating a patient's mandible includes the well-known George Gauge™. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,388.) The George Gauge™ allows for the movement of the lower mandible only in the anteroposterior axis and minimal vertical change.
Several problems can occur with the current method of achieving desired mandibular position because the patient is instructed to, e.g., position their mandible as the dental/medical procedure is performed. In several instances, the current methodology is tried sequentially in set intervals while having to remove the instrument between setting of the mandible and recording the patient's bite registration. Present methods lack the precision and repeatability needed to analyze a patient in real time with any diagnostic instrument or during other dental procedures requiring mandibular manipulation. This trial-and-error method not only increases the diagnosis time, but prevents an accurate means of noting where the relative position of the mandible lies in relation to the maxilla. Consequently, the dental appliance created for the patient can sometimes need to be created several times before the appliance works correctly. And, in some cases, the patient becomes dissatisfied with the overall lack of good results and gives up.
A U.S. Patent search was conducted and the following patents were uncovered: U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,388 (Nov. 11, 2008) to Halstrom; U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,423 (Feb. 6, 2001) to Gaumond et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,311 (Apr. 30, 2002) to Gaumond et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,865 (Jun. 12, 2001) to Nelson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,669,988 (May 8, 1951) to Carpenter; U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,308 (Apr. 10, 1979) to Sayer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,911 (Jan. 17, 1984) Luomanen et al.; U.S. Patent; U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,945 (Jan. 29, 1985) to Liegner; U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,218 (Jun. 18, 1991) to Ovassapian et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,768 (Feb. 11, 1992) to Niemeyer; U.S. Pat. No. D288,346 (Feb. 17, 1987) to Walsh; U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,741 (Apr. 26, 1994) to Moles; U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,418 (May 9, 1989) to Sauer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,140 (Sep. 18, 1984) to Lustig; U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,100 (Feb. 21, 1989) to Schainholz; U.S. Pat. No. 7,364,429 (Apr. 29, 2008) to Olivier; U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,609 (Oct. 13, 1992) to George; U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,872 (Apr. 6, 1993) to Leal; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,147 (Apr. 17, 1984) to Magill and Key, the contents of the entirety of each of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
The inventors hereof have invented the mandibular manipulator described and claimed in PCT International Patent Application Publication WO/2011/005299 (published in English on Jan. 13, 2011), which patent application claims priority under Article 8 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/269,344, filed on Jun. 24, 2009, the contents of the entirety of which are incorporated herein by this reference.